In the last ten years, the number of 26-29-year olds ditching the 9 – 5 in favour of a freelance career has risen by a staggering 66%, and millennials have been responsible for driving the growth in several new creative and professional sectors.
While as a generation millennials still account for less of the UK’s freelance workforce than baby boomers and generation x, they have the unique advantage of being the first ‘digitally native’ generation and a long list of apps and platforms at their disposal to help them launch and grow their freelance careers.
With so many tools on the market, helping with everything from time management to banking, we take a look at the essential ones for any freelancer looking to streamline their workload and find new opportunities.
Toggl: the one for time management
The ultimate time management tool for freelancers, Toggl helps users to boost their productivity and meet important project deadlines. The free version allows you to track time spent on projects with a simple one-click timer that works even while you’re offline. You can also set reminders for specific times or when you open your favourite apps – so no more forgetting to log time spent on a project. For fans of the Pomodoro technique, there’s even a timer that can remind you to take that much-needed break.
Coconut is a current account specifically designed to help freelancers and small business owners that takes care of your accounting and tax. As you use your Coconut account the app estimates how much tax to save so you’ll never get to the end of the year and have an unexpected bill. The app also categorises your business expenses helping you to stay organised and send instant push notifications when you spend to remind you to snap the receipt, keeping everything tidily in one place. Still not convinced. Well, Coconut will also give you helpful tips along the way about what you can and can’t claim, helping to maximise savings on your tax bill.
Otter.ai: the one for notetaking
The clever people over at Otter.ai, have created an AI-powered assistant to help create rich notes for meetings, interviews, and other important conversations. Not only can you record conversations on your phone or web browser, but Otter will also create real-time streaming transcripts and searchable notes with text, audio, images. What’s more, because Otter is powered by Ambient Voice Intelligence, it’s always constantly learning – you can train Otter to recognise voices and learn special terminology. All of which will help you work and collaborate smarter!
Bumble Bizz: the one for networking
Bumble Bizz launched in the UK way back in October 2017. The ‘Bizz’ extension of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s immensely popular dating app was designed to help women to make the first move in their professional lives. Bumble firmly believes that ‘Networking shouldn’t feel so hard or, worse, uncomfortable.’ Which is why they created Bizz, to make it easy to make life-changing connections at your own pace, on your own terms.
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AndCo: the one for finding a workspace
Tired of fighting for a table in crowded coffee shops to contend with awful WiFi and pressure from baristas to buy another coffee? Well, AndCo provides bookable hot-desks in the best hotels, bars and restaurants across London with dedicated WiFi, all for the fraction of the cost of a traditional co-working membership. With over 90+ hand-picked venues across London and a guaranteed desk every time you book, AndCo is a perfect option for freelancers wanting to escape the kitchen table.
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